Carbohydrate cycling is a 6 day program that will allow your body to burn bodyfat while still retaining muscle mass. It's a technique that is described in detail in the book SLICED by Bill Reynolds and Negrita Jayde, however I will summarize it here.

Over the last 10 years I've competed, I've used this technique each time and without fail I've been able to achieve exceptional definition while retaining the muscle mass that I gained during my bulking phase.

If you're using this program to cut down for a bodybuilding competition, remember to give yourself enough time to get the results you want. Depending on your bodyfat percentage you may need 12-24 weeks to get to competition quality definition.

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For the first 3 days, you'll eat mostly fibrous carbohydrates, then for the next 3 days you'll eat mostly starchy carbohydrates. These include:

The philosophy behind carb cycling is that for 3 days you will deplete your carbohydrates by eating fibrous carbohydrates, which will allow your body to use up muscle glycogen and burn bodyfat. Then for the next 3 days, you will load your carbohydrates by eating mostly starchy carbohydrates and thus replenish your muscle glycogen. The great thing about this technique is the following:

Fibrous carbs (which are mostly made of cellulose) have an atomic structure that our digestive system has difficulty breaking down. Therefore the majority of fibrous carbs we eat just pass through our digestive system. Although they aren't digested, they do provide intestinal bulk, and they have the added benefit of not only speeding up the digestive process but they take a considerable amount of water with them.

By eating fibrous carbs every two hours, your body realizes that it's getting food frequently and speeds up your metabolism. Since fibrous carbs aren't easily digested, it requires more calories to burn them than they give up, so in effect giving you a net loss of caloric efficiency.

By eating like this for 3 days and then switching to starchy carbs keeps you just shy of ketosis, and prevents your body from entering a catabolic state. Catabolism is where the body begins cannibalizing muscle tissue to get energy from the protein in the muscles.

By doing cardio on the first 3 days (your fibrous carb days), you burn more bodyfat and consume more muscle glycogen. During the last 3 days (your starchy carb days), you'll be replenishing that muscle glycogen, giving your muscles a fuller, harder look, but with less bodyfat covering them.

When performed properly, you can predictably lose between 1-2 lbs. each week. So if you know you want to compete at 165 lbs. and you're currently at 175 lbs., you will need to cycle your carbohydrates a few times to reach that goal. You should notice a dramatic difference in your definition after your first cycle through this program. So with subsequent 6 day cycles, you can get more and more cut with each pass.

As for cardio, you should do 35-45 minutes of cardio on your depletion days, and none on your loading days. However, if you're still a few weeks out, the cardio on your loading days is optional.

For an excellent database of nutritional data visit: http://www.nutritiondata.com and enter the food choices and serving sizes listed below.

Here's a sample diet for Day 1 whereby the caloric intake from maintenance is cut by 50% (where maintenance is 3000 calories):

100 grams of broccoli150 grams of fish (cod, salmon, tilapia or tuna, for example)1 tablespoon of a Medium Chain Triglyceride (MCT) oil20 ounces of water

Meal #3 (Lunch):

150 grams of chicken breast200 grams of green beans1 tablespoon of a Medium Chain Triglyceride (MCT) oil16 ounces of water

Meal #4:

100 gram potato20 ounces of water

Meal #5 (Dinner):

150 grams of lean beef200 grams of green beans1 tablespoon of a Medium Chain Triglyceride (MCT) oil20 ounces of water

Before bed: Take 1 tablet 1-3 times daily of an Arginine supplement, between meals or at bedtime with a carbohydrate drink to facilitate absorption. Arginine helps to increase natural output of growth hormone and mobilize fat stores.

Most bodybuilders will drop their carb intake by 10 grams each day for those 3 days. So essentially, the potato that appears for Meal #4 would be replaced by 100 grams of broccoli (or 200 grams of green beans).

Each person is different and you'll have to modify your cardio and overall caloric intake based on your particular bodyfat situation, however if you follow that routine strictly, regarding the types of carbs you take in, and the amount of cardio you do, here's an example of the results you can expect.

This is my friend Mitch. Back when he was 16, we helped him with his contest prep for a bodybuilding competition he was doing that summer. We introduced him to the carb cycling technique listed above. He started off at 185 lbs. in February 2003 and he started carb cycling and doing cardio routinely 4-5 days per week. By the time we saw him again in May 2003, he'd dropped almost 20 lbs. and he competed at just over 160 lbs. on contest day. Here are his before/after pictures:

Hopefully this summary will help your cutting routine. I strongly encourage you to get a copy of the book SLICED by Bill Reynolds & Negrita Jayde, as it goes into considerable detail on this topic and even breaks down precontest preparation in a way that is easy to follow and has predictable results.